Greetings of Christian love to our readers,
A New Year
It is hard to believe that we already have such a good head-start into another year. I sit here reflecting back a number of years to the time when we were approaching the end of 1999 and there was a lot of apprehension regarding the term Y2K. We were just about to make the transition from one time era to another—a year, a decade, a century, and yes, even a millennium. It seemed as though the whole world was waiting with “bated breath” for that last second…and then what?
That second in history has come and gone; actually, most of us hardly ever pause to reflect on that moment in time. We are rushing on with all of our present duties: raising children, earning a living, witnessing for the Lord, being busy doing the Lord’s work, etc. However, are we remembering to live our lives as though every moment is just like it was back then at the end of 1999?
I find that it does me good at times to stop and ponder where I am in life and what the Lord may be trying to get my attention about. So often I find that I can be so busy with all that life has to offer, that I am much like Lazarus’ sister Martha in the Bible. She was completely focused on doing and serving, to the point that the Lord had to gently rebuke her. “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42) This was the answer to the frustration she expressed about her sister Mary who had been sitting at the feet of Jesus, sharing with Him and learning of Him, instead of being busy like Martha, with the earthly cares and duties of life.
May we each, in this new year, remember to take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Let us learn of Him, and allow ourselves to be filled with His Father’s Word, the Bible. As we do this we will be blessed indeed, just like Mary was. Here is just one aspect that will take place in our lives, We will “not sin [willfully] against” God. (Psalm 119:11) I will stop with just that one blessing and encourage each of you to take the time to search the Scriptures for yourself, to discover, or else to be reminded, just how many promises we have been given as we feed on God’s heavenly manna, the Holy Scriptures.
Magazine Details
The ministry of The Berean Voice had been started in the year of 2015, with one of the goals being that of starting a doctrinal newsletter of some sort. Towards the end of 2015, the Lord opened the door for us to consider taking over the publication of an established magazine, “The Heartbeat of the Remnant”. As we prayed about this possibility, we came to a place of peace, believing the Lord had orchestrated these events. So even though this was a much larger project than we had originally been anticipating, we took a step (leap) of faith.
The magazine had been out of print for over two years, the mailing list was outdated, and we had never been involved in this type of venture before. Looking back, we really had no idea what all was involved in publishing a newsletter. There were all the legal aspects of becoming established as a recognized non-profit organization with the government, the post office, the bank, plus many other things.
Anyway, so much for all that, we won’t bore you with more details. However, we would like to say that this first year has been somewhat of a challenge to get everything in place and finished in a timely manner. We are endeavoring to print the magazine quarterly, though we have fallen somewhat behind schedule. For this, we would ask your patience as we strive to get things back on track in this coming year. Our goal will be to continue to publish each new issue a week or two sooner than the last, until we are back to printing each quarterly issue at the beginning of each quarter. Thank you all so much for your understanding in this matter.
Other Matters
There are several other things that should be mentioned in this issue as well. First of all, there have been a number of you who responded to the request in our first issue, when we mentioned that we were looking for people to write articles, poems, short stories, etc. Also, that we were hoping to start developing our own compilation of photos to draw from instead of needing to go online for those.
For those of you who have responded, we thank you for your interest. However, we do apologize that we did not have all our requirements sorted out ahead of time. As different of you started to bring various questions and inquiries, we realized that we needed to take our time to ensure that we have those details thought through and in place before we start accepting the above mentioned items. At this time we are getting close to having that in place and once we do, we will be contacting each one of you who has sent in your offer to write for us.
Also, we received some feedback on the articles we have been printing in the medical column. There has been some question regarding the direction or the agenda that is in place for that column. In response, we have seen a lot of confusion surrounding the issue of Biblical ethics regarding a whole host of issues relating to health matters. There are some folks in the plain circles who seem to be quite gullible or naïve in regards to using any alternative methods that are available (even some that border on being evil). There is also a strong view among some in the plain circles who see all “allopathic medicine” (regular medicine) as being suspect, unsafe, dangerous, or even anti-Christian. Finally, there are those among the “plain people” who would be unaware or even possibly confused in knowing what is Biblically acceptable or actually required, IF the need would arise for them to go to the doctor. Also, they would not know when to get second opinions or which tests and screenings are ethical or necessary.
Our goal with the medical column is to endeavor to honestly look at these issues from a Biblical perspective, while trying to develop Christian ethics in regards to ALL of medicine—allopathic or alternative. We will also be planning to try to unravel some of the confusion surrounding a Christian’s visit to the doctor, IF there is ever the need for that. Finally, since there is already so much available information regarding herbs and vitamin supplements, we do not plan to be focusing on those aspects of health, even though we believe there is a proper and right place for them.
God Bless you all.